....And Still More Pictures.....

Dateline December 23, 2008

Are you ready for a throwdown? Apparently peej wasn't because this post is about his entry that didn't win. I'm not about to divulge the winner because that is for someone else to do in a throwdown post of their own. You see for some strange reason as I was going through my pictures to post about the throwdown well, you see I have only 6 or seven pictures. And most of those are of an empty kitchen so don't expect to see any other pics other than these of peej getting his entry ready.

He starts by trying to find a sharp knife.



I see that pesky faucet has shown up again. I promise this will be the only time we see it tonight. Also if you notice the people might appear to be moving in the pictures. That is because I didn't use a flash and people just won't hold still long enough. I prefer to call them "action" shots.

Once he finds suitable knife to use peej starts by cutting up some onions.



I see he decided to use my cast iron dutch oven. Good choice. What do you suppose he is making. Let's continue to follow along.

He just added some sausage to the dutch oven.



Hmm, it's a mixture of Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage and Chirizo. What do you think he is up to?

Next is one of those patent "action" shots of peej stirring the pot, something his grandpa likes to do but with him we aren't talking about cooking.



Let's see what's next?



Chopped up onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, Emeril's Essence (that's what is in the big spice thing a ma jig), sausage browning in the dutch oven and he has my bible of cooking opened up to what page? Sausage chili! Holy cow he's cooking my sausage chili for the throwdown. If he wins I hope I get half his winnings.

Next he adds all the ingredients to the chili.



What's this? Look at all these snoops trying to get a peak at what he is doing.



Isn't that like cheating? The only thing that could be worse is if he decides to serve his chili in bread bowls. Now that would be cheating since we decided bread bowls are not to be allowed in this throwdown. DO YOU HEAR ME BIG SISTER?

And what is this little ingredient?



Beer? But he isn't old enough to be drinking beer, how did he get beer?



Oh that's what it is for. Now I understand, lucky for him I was thinking about grounding him until he was 21.

Next he adds the beans, not just any old brand of beans he had to have Bush's Beans.



And what's this?



Honey? Honey in chili? Now I've seen it all.

And this is what it looks like when he is done.



Here he is explaining the finer nuances of making chili with beer and honey to his aunt and uncle.



I'm not sure they're getting it.

I'm not a big fan of chili but I do love that sausage chili. I could tell you a story about how three of us ate a pot full of this chili once while deer hunting and how one of the hunters got out into the woods the next day and decided it was time to go and......why don't we leave that story for another day.

Stay tuned because tomorrow will be pictures of the other side of the family on Christmas Eve.

And More Pictures....

Dateline Monday December 22, 2008.

This is the day we picked to go grocery shopping for our meals for the rest of the week plus we needed to buy the rest of our ingredients for our impending throwdown. Imagine if you will three generations of Porters' descending on Meijers. Well we survived and so did Meijers even after the minor misunderstanding regarding crab legs. Needless to say we ended up with salmon to eat that night. Since I rarely get to eat deep fried salmon these days I welcomed the opportunity.

Anybody who has ever had the opportunity to eat deep fried salmon that dad makes knows it is the best you will ever have. The salmon is meticulously breaded and precisely cooked to perfection. I don't think I could ever duplicate how he cooks salmon so I never try. I liken it to cooking ma's red cake just no way to properly duplicate it so don't even try.



Look at all the salmon being precisely lined up getting ready to be breaded.



I should note I only took the very last picture on this post today. I will gladly give peej all the credit. Also notice it is light outside when this process is started.



Good deep fried salmon takes time to properly fix.



Notice that pesky sink faucet that keeps showing up in the pictures? Keep your eye on it.

Things are progressing along quite nicely.



Every now and then the knives need sharping. In this picture I'm showing an old man a new trick with a "good" knife sharpener.



I hate those sticks he uses but I convince him to use my knife sharpener and he actually likes it.



Now were moving, see we are making progress.



That's quite a pile of fish we got there. It's time for breading and this is where ma comes into the picture.



She says "Get out of my way or we'll never get this done." Notice that pesky faucet again? Notice it's dark outside now?

Once the fish is breaded they are lined up like solders awaiting the deep fryer.



Time to fry and believe me he has this part down to the second.



I see that pesky faucet has shown up in the picture again. Peej must have been intrigued by it because here is the next photo on the camera.



Huh? Is this a statement he is trying to make? Does he think this is art? Is this what they teach in political science? Let's look at some more "artful" photos.



A dead beer can, beautiful.



Another beer can picture? What's this got to do with a fish dinner? What's on his mind?



WTF?



And what is this photo all about? Was it the coffee pot? Maybe the glass of wine? Maybe the bag of bagels or the little beagle in the windowsill. Who knows?

Let's get back to the fish frying and see how we're coming along.



Ah almost done. Let's set the table.



Notice the soup on the table? Yep that's my throwdown anything you can eat with a spoon entry. I call it Roasted Corn and Shrimp Chowder. The fish was very good too. Not as good as catching it fresh out of Lake Michigan but still pretty darn good none the less. I for one welcomed it.

Well time to eat so I will check in again tomorrow with more pictures for you. By tomorrow I will be back behind the camera, at least for most of the pictures.

Here Comes the Pictures

It's time to start Christmas pictures and non to soon because I have plenty to go through in the next few days. I think the best way to get this show started is to start at the beginning, makes sense doesn't it? For those of you too old to remember back that far the Christmas pictures and parties started on Sunday at the Wise Township Hall. This was the only chance for younger brothers family to be involved so tonight most pictures will be his family.

I will admit I do not take very good family pictures and I don't take very many family pictures either. Almost all of these pictures come compliments of Katie and I think she did a great job. Maybe she has a future as a photographer.





Okay so I took the first two pictures. The first one was almost black but I brought it back from the dead with a trip through Photoshop to lighten it up a bit. Now the rest will be Katie's.















Hey how did that one get in there?

If anyone wants these pictures you can steal them from my photobucket site where I store them. All you have to do is double click on one of the pictures and it will take you there. Once there you can figure out how to get around and download any and all pictures you want. You will be able to do this for any pictures you see here over the next few days.

I don't have much to say tonight because I have about 300 pictures to go through and get ready for the next round.

Later.